Christopher P. Nease

Overview

Chris concentrates his practice on the defense of multinational companies and individuals in high-stakes litigation. His experience runs the spectrum from pretrial litigation and discovery to advising and appearing on behalf of some of the world’s largest manufacturers as trial and appellate counsel. In his career, Chris has been involved in more than 20 jury and bench trials.

Chris has had the unique experience of working in three Shook offices. He began his career at Shook as an associate in our Houston office. While in Houston, Chris handled pharmaceutical, product liability and trademark infringement cases. As an associate, Chris first-chaired several trademark infringement trials in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

In 2005, Chris relocated to Kansas City to become involved in group of cases against cigarette manufacturers in Independence, Missouri. Chris took over the day-to-day management of the cases and was a member of the team that obtained a complete defense verdict in favor of Philip Morris USA in the VanDenBurg case in Independence, Missouri. In 2008, Chris became licensed to practice law in the state of Florida to defend Philip Morris USA in suits brought by approximately 8,000 individual plaintiffs claiming membership to a decertified class. Once licensed, Chris appeared on behalf of Philip Morris USA in multiple expert and plaintiff depositions.

In 2009, Chris relocated to Geneva, Switzerland, where he served as international coordinating counsel to our international manufacturing clients. As international coordinating counsel, Chris worked with lawyers from various countries to formulate and execute trial and appellate strategy. Chris also advised clients on litigation prevention strategies and legislative projects to help minimize their civil liability risk. This included advice and counsel on proposed legislation on class actions and product liability laws in Europe, Africa and Asia.

Since 2012, Chris has been in Kansas City continuing his representation of multinational companies and individuals in high-stakes litigation. During this time, Chris has been involved in several trials in Florida on behalf of Philip Morris USA. In addition, Chris has provided advice and counsel on appellate matters and represented individuals in a variety of litigation matters.

Publications

Christopher Nease, Christine Gateau, and Jonas Masiokas, A View From the Other Side of the Pond, DRI Annual Meeting, October 2012.